In the bakery industry, it is common for long buns to be baked in clusters each of which includes four to six buns. Four to six individual "fingers" of dough are initially placed in a baking pan. During the baking process, the dough expands such that the buns bake together and are joined at areas that are relatively weak defined along the lines where the buns are joined during the baking process. The buns are subsequently sliced and are packaged together in packages containing one or more clusters.
The slices are normally hinge cuts which present little difficulty for the two outside buns in each cluster. The outer side edges of these buns are exposed and can be sliced from the outside. However, the interior buns in each cluster are joined at both edges to two other buns, so access to their edges in order to slice them is a much more difficult undertaking. In order to avoid conspicuous and unsightly cut lines, it is necessary to enter the bun clusters from the bottom which is generally not visible in the final package. A vertical blade can be used to make a vertical slit from the bottom part way through the weakened area between the two interior buns in each cluster, and a horizontal slicing blade can then be used to make horizontal hinge cuts in both interior buns, with the vertical slit providing room for accommodating the shaft of the horizontal slicing blade.
One problem with this technique is that the vertical blade slits the buns at the exact location where it comes into contact with them. Due to inherent variations in the buns from cluster to cluster, the vertical blade may make a slit at a location that is slightly offset from the weakened line where the buns are joined. As a consequence, the horizontal slices may not start at the edge of each bun, and the bun slicing operation may not be consistent from cluster to cluster. In addition, the dough in the area between the natural weak line and the location of the vertical slit may fall from the bun. This detracts from the integrity of the bun clusters and creates crumbs that can clog the machinery and increase the cleaning and maintenance requirements.
Another type of problem is encountered when it is necessary to handle individually baked rolls or buns that are irregular or inconsistent in their shapes and sizes. Irregular buns and rolls are deemed by many commercial bakers to be desirable because there is a perception that irregular products are more appealing to customers as having a hand formed or home made appearance. When the buns are lacking in uniformity in size and shape, they are difficult to handle with automated equipment. Achieving a consistent hinge type cut is particularly difficult because the products approach the slicing mechanism in different postures as a result of their dissimilar configurations. Some products may be sliced completely through and others may be sliced only across a corner or in some other inadequate fashion.